17. THE HARVEST WAS VERY
SUCCESSFUL, AND THE
PILGRIMS FOUND THEMSELVES
WITH ENOUGHT FOOD TO PUT
AWAY FOR THE WINTER
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23. THE STORY OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
A long time ago, in 1620 people called Pilgrims left their homes in England and came across the
ocean to America in a boat called the Mayflower.
The Mayflower was no cruise ship. In fact she wasn’t built for passengers at all.
On November, after sixty five days at sea, they land at Cape Code in Massachusetts. By December
they will make their way to Plimoth. The Pilgrims arrived in the New World during Winter, making
it very difficult for them to find food and build shelters.
Already weakened by their two month voyage, most of the passengers failed to survive the first
few months in their new home.
Fortunately, native people called Wampanoag also known by “eastern people” shared their
knowledge and helped the Pilgrims how to fish, hunt and plant.
In 1621, the harvest was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to
put away for the winter. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, fish to be packed in salt and meat to
be cured over smoky fires. The Pilgrims had much to celebrate and give thanks. They and the
Wampanoag shared an Autumn harvest feast which is now known as the first Thanksgiving.
Food was served onto the table and then people took the food from the table and ate it. They
didn’t use forks, they ate with spoons, knives and their fingers. It lasted three days.
Since then every year they celebrate Thanksgiving to remember the brave Pilgrims and to give
thanks for all of their blessings, in the fourth Thursday of each November.
Turkey is the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner because could feed more than a
chicken so thanksgiving is sometimes called Turkey Day.
24. The Pilgrims were English Separatists who founded (1620) Plymouth Colony
in New England. In the first years of the 17th century, small numbers of
English Puritans broke away from the Church of England because they
felt that it had not completed the work of the Reformation. They committed
themselves to a life based on the Bible. Most of these Separatists were
farmers, poorly educated and without social or political standing. One of
the Separatist congregations was led by William Brewster and the Rev.
Richard Clifton in the village of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire.
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32. The worst part about going on a trip is deciding what to pack. For the Mayflower passengers and all
others who followed them on transatlantic journeys throughout the 17th-century, good preparation
could mean the difference between life or death! What would you take and what would you leave
behind?
